The Sunday News
Sandra Tekere, Sunday News Reporter
WHILE for a number of people, taking advice is a challenge, this was not the case for Dr John Godener Munro Ferguson who took seriously the words of the late Vice-President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo not to leave the country when other white doctors left in droves at the attainment of Independence in 1980.
Dr Ferguson has decided to retire from the medical field but he looks back with pride as he managed to use that advice and dedicated most of his life to serve the people of Bulawayo and Zimbabwe in general. Sunday News caught up with the 88-year-old Dr Ferguson at his home in Suburbs where he narrated how Dr Nkomo, then his patient, persuaded him to stay in the country when others were packing their bags.
“I think it was somewhere soon after Independence when Dr Nkomo said to me, ‘Fergie don’t run away’. I slept over it and by the next morning I was sure I was not going to leave,” he said.
From that day, Dr Ferguson continued serving the city until this year when he retired. All in all he has been in the medical industry for 60 years specialising in maternity and plastic surgery. Dr Ferguson also owns Galen and Lancet houses, two of the most common medical buildings in Bulawayo housing a number of doctors and other medical facilities.
Speaking during his retirement reception held last week, Dr Ferguson said: “I am so touched by your gesture to formalise my retirement after 60 years in practice. The Bulawayo community has become like family to me and I do not see myself going back to Scotland, where I am originally from.”
Dr Ferguson was born in 1929 in Scotland and did his medical studies at Glasgow University for six years, graduating in 1955 with a surgical distinction. He became a general practitioner in Glasgow while he was still looking for other options. He came to Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) in 1956 after reading a newspaper from one of his patients. The newspaper had an advert for a vacancy for a doctor in Bulawayo.
“I had never heard of Bulawayo before I decided to apply for the job. By that time I had just got married to Margerey Anne Ferguson and it sounded like a good project for honeymoon,” said the smiling Dr Ferguson.
After working for quite some time in Bulawayo, Dr Ferguson decided to return to Glassgow where he furthered his studies in maternity and plastic surgeon. When he returned he pressured his colleagues to start looking for a place of their own to practice.
In 1960, Dr Ferguson and his colleagues found a vacant stand which had junk on it which seemed ideal for a building to start the project. That is the place which today is known as Galen House and it was built at the same time with Lancet House.
The name Galen House came from one of Dr Ferguson’s partners who was a Latin scholar who often talked about a future plan by the name Galen project. Dr Ferguson said hence the building was named after Claudius Galen who was an apothecary who looked after Julius Caesar.
Although he has seen a lot in the medical field, Dr Ferguson said one of the highlights of his career was when he delivered 100 babies in two months. That means at least two babies per day. He has four children, eight grandchildren and one great grandchild. One of his colleagues said Dr Ferguson has contributed immensely to the growth of the medical fraternity in Bulawayo.
“Dr Ferguson and I have worked closely together for the past 29 years and in these years, he has become more of a father than a colleague to me. He is a vibrant, compassionate and self-driven personality and has always been a breath of fresh air in our working spaces,” said Dr Mwati Sibanda.
